Change Flashcards
Linguistic Relativity
Language shapes our thinking but does not completely control it. Weaker version of Sapir-Whorf theor. Language has a powerful influence over how we think and behave.
Semantic Reclamation
Taking language that has negative connotations and trying to overturn them to have a more positive meaning by using the language in new ways. Eg. slut and queer.
Functional Theory
Language changes because society does. Best example to date is technology. Going from CD’s to MP3’s to Streams.
Sapir-Whorf Theory
Reflectionism: Our opinions shape our language use.
Determinism: Our language shapes our thoughts and opinions.
Outdated and limited due to it being extreme in some cases and deemed to be too strong for today’s standards.
Inkhorn Controversy
Inkhorn term is any foreign borrowing word into English that is deemed to be unnecessary or overly pretentious. New words being introduced, some to fill a semantic gap.
Grammatical Change
Rate of this change is slower. We take from Latin and so the rules from there carry over. Eg, split infinitive. However latin has one word but we don’t.
Lowth and Murray
Both heavy in the prescriptive side liked that English was heavily routed in Latin (prestige).
Lowth = tendencies
Murray = rules
Haugen, Standardisation
A gradual process that begun in the 14th century. English is a hybrid language. Selection -> Codification -> Elaboration -> Implementation.
We cannot say right or wrong so we say standard and non-standard.
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary
First dictionary produced. A scholarly record that after production all dictionaries were seen as a source of authority. Didn’t include proper nouns or words deemed as slang.
Hockett, Random Fluctuation Theory
Misspellings or errors can form new words such as ‘owned’ -> ‘pwned’. Not all words are accepted and it is completely random so if this was for all language is would be chaos.
Bailey, Wave Model
New language starts at the middle and gradually spreads out. They become weaker as they move away so is reflected in fewer people using the feature. Could be related to geographical distance or other factors like age, gender, class etc…
Chenn, S-curve
New form gradually increases before taking off. Starts slowly then a rapid increase before the curve flattens and the word become permanent in the language. Older form may still exist and continue in some contexts.
Jean Aitchinson, Metaphors
Damp Spoon: sloppy and laziness. Subjective view.
Crumbling Castle: golden age of when? unrealistic, too rigid.
Infectious Disease: people make choices, texting vs job letter, powerless to resist.
She is mocking prescriptivists and their extreme views, she says let change happen.
Robert Greene, Declinism and Sticklerism
Declinism: English is in an irreversible decline from a once great change.
Sticklerism: An intrusive concern with concerning others language use. Tendency to correct and criticise other language use.
Deutscher, Expressiveness
Change in language is for expressiveness and tends to use particular terms for social identity and extend range of meaning.
Economy: save effort in communication, shorten long words.
Analogy: regularise language use, new nouns follow regular pattern
